Through The Worst of Times
by enchanted07
Summary: Katniss had failed to kill President Coin, and now all the victors must pay the price. Locked up in the deepest levels of District 13 and kept young against their will, they are suddenly faced with people from their past that they have though were long dead. AU. OCs.
1. Prologue

**A/N: First, a quick note. I have tried publishing this story before sometimes in the summer, but I wasn't pleased with the result, so I deleted it. I like it a lot better now, so I will hopefully continue it this time. Also, I recommend listening to the song Running to the Seashore by the band Vama, which is band from my country, as it really sets the mood for this prologue. **

**Also, I would like to note that English is not my first language, so I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes that may appear.**

**Disclaimer:**** The world of the Hunger Games and all the characters that you recognize from the book series belong to Suzanne Collins. I only own my original characters that will appear later on in the story.**

**Summary: ****Katniss had failed to kill President Coin, and now all the victors must pay the price. Locked up in the deepest levels of District 13 and kept young against their will, they are suddenly faced with people from their past that they have though were long dead. AU. OCs.**

* * *

**Through The Worst of Times**

_**Prologue**_

"_You see a boy who's running to the seashore_

_And in his place you dream to be once more…"_

_Vama – Running To The Seashore_

The quietness in the hallway was deeper than usual. The two guards standing in front of the farthest cell exchanged glares as Alma Coin made her way out of the small room they were guarding.

The President of Panem was wearing one of her usual gray suits, her hair up in a tidy bun. There was nothing unusual about the woman's look, but there was something different in the way that she carried herself, more confident than ever, if that were even possible, like she'd just won a very important game.

She was quickly followed by Plutarch Heavensbee, who on the other hand, looked like he was about to pass out. The guards exchanged another glare, shivers running down both of their spines as the President turned around to face them, her face showing no emotion at all.

"For now on," said President Coin, her eyes moving between the faces of the two guards, "You and the other guards from this sector shall take the places of those whom we lost in the nuclear accident last week."

The guard standing on the left side of the door opened his mouth in order to say something, but he was quickly cut off by Coin's harsh glare. "As for who is going to replace you in your position," she turned to look at Plutarch, and all the colour he had left in his cheeks slowly disappeared, "We had already made arrangements in the other Districts in order to gain new human force. Your schedule should be replaced with the new one by tomorrow morning."

She began walking in the direction of the elevator, her guards following shortly after, Plutarch half walking, half dragging himself after them.

A few minutes passed, but for both the guard and the two people

locked inside the cell it felt like whole hours. "Axe was right." said the left guard looking straight ahead. "They really did hold some sort of competition in the Districts."

"Why now, after all these years?" the right guard asked, starring at the metal door behind him.

Either his question got no answer, or it wasn't said loud enough to be heard inside the cell, Finnick Odair couldn't tell.

Sighting, he absently stroked his wife's hair, whose head was burring in his chest, and he began doing what he had always done after one of Coin's visit. Trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

He had no idea how much time had passed since they'd been locked inside this cell. No one ever told them anything. He had a guess there had been several years since he'd last seen the sea in District 4. The last time he had felt the breeze caress his cheek. The last time he had watched the sun rise from the ocean. The last time he had heard Annie's laugh. The last time he had felt alive.

Until now Coin, had only cared about them taking the serum. It was supposed to stop their bodies from ageing, but he had a feeling it also weakened them.

But today something was different. Coin had brought up something he had desperately tried to forget. His children. The twins Annie had gave birth to on the day everything was ruined. The day Katniss failed to kill Coin. He'd assumed they were both dead, ever since the soldiers had taken the girl from his arms and dragged both him and Annie to this damned room.

Finn, after him.

Elena, Mags' middle name.

He'd never even considered the possibility that they might be alive. And yet, today, Coin had given him the best and at the same time, the worst news of his life.

His children were alive.

And they were working for Coin.

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**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. In the next chapter I will hopefully introduce two of my OCs out of the five that will have a main role in the story.**

**Please review, as I would like to know whether you like it or not.**


	2. We've Only Just Begun

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Blame it on a little book called "Fangirl" by a certain author named Rainbow Rowell.**

**Two words: Amazing. Levi.**

**Thank you ****_.Awkward_**** and ****_Lightning at Noon_**** for reviewing. Also, thank you to everyone who favorited and followed.**

**If you wonder how I imagine the characters :**

**Jovana Milovanovic – Elena (trying to cope with Stef as Annie)**

**Drew Van Acker – Finn**

**I hope you had an amazing Christmas, and now, on with the story. **

**Disclaimer:**** The world of the Hunger Games and all the characters that you recognize from the book series belong to Suzanne Collins. I only own my original characters that will appear later on in the story.**

**Summary: Katniss had failed to kill President Coin, and now all the victors must pay the price. Locked up in the deepest levels of District 13 and kept young against their will, they are suddenly faced with people from their past that they have though were long dead. AU. OCs.**

* * *

**Through The Worst of Times**

**Chapter 1 – We've Only Just Begun**

"_Sharing horizons that are new to us Watching the signs along the way_

_Talkin' it over, just the two of us _

_Workin' together day to day, together, together"_

_The Carpenters - "We've Only Just Begun"_

_2 months. 60 days. 1500 hours. God knows how many minutes and seconds._

_They say that facing the truth about ourselves is the hardest thing we could do. _

_After what has happened in the past two month, I can't even bear to look at myself in the mirror. For what I am about to do goes so far past anything bearable by a human being._

_I've spent the last few night wandering if it is really worth it. If the life of the one person who has been a constant in my life is worth it. And no matter how hard I try to let him go, convincing myself that he would have done the same thing, the though of losing him is even more unbearable than the though of hurting them._

_Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta. My parents._

_No matter how hard I try, I can't see them as anything else, but strangers. And when it comes to their lives or the life of my brother, I am selfish enough to choose him. Because I know I couldn't live without him. _

_I am not like the rest of them. Rose. Byte. Chlo. _

_They listen to every single word Coin and Axe say without questioning anything. There are moments in which it seems like they might back down, and see the truth. If they do, they don't let it show for too long. _

_They do everything together; they've known each other for more years than I've known how to swim. They have already agreed to go to District 13, and join Coin's forces. I am the only one left that needs to decide. If I accept, Finn comes with me. If I don't he dies._

_And if there is one thing that I don't doubt in this whole thing, this is certainly it: Elena Odair can't face the truth about her own self. _

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**2 months ago, District 4**

The water was colder than usual. It slapped her cheeks every time she got closer to the end of the round, but she had to move forward. It was the last one, and she was about break her own record.

Her hand hit the hard marble wall of the swimming pool, and she busted out of the water. She took off her glasses and a wide smile formed on her lips as she saw her brother nodding.

'8:13' said Finn lowering his legs in the cool water. He helped Elena out of the pool and looked around the main swimming pool of the Complex. They had been coming there every other day for the past 10 years, and he could notice the paint going off the walls, or the small cracks on the ceiling. The Complex had been the Justice Building of District 4 before the war, or so their grandfather had told them.

Elena took the stopwatch from his hand and stared at it for a moment. 'Something wrong?' asked Finn running his hand through his sand-colored hair.

'I just…though I went a little faster.'

'Seriously? 8:13 is a pretty good time. It's better than your last one, anyway.'

'Well, pretty good isn't good enough for me, and you know it. I need at least 7:50 in order to beat Clair.' Elena sighted, than grabbed her bag from the closest bench.

Finn took his stopwatch back from her and smiled. 'You'll get there. You're the best swimmer I know. '

Elena smiled a little herself, grateful for his kindness.

'Why do you care so much about this, anyway?'

'I just do.' she took off her head cap, letting her damp auburn hair fall of her back.

'Listen, Ina.' Finn turned around to look at her, and the fact that he used her nickname made Elena know that he had something serious to say. 'Have you got any plans after we're done here?'

'No…Why?' said Elena. She assumed there was nothing serious after all, so she turned her attention back to showing her towel in her bag.

'I wanna go for a walk.'

Elena dropped her bag on the marble ground and whirled around to face her brother. Around the same time they'd started coming to the Complex to swim, they'd also come up with a code, so they wouldn't upset their grandfather by talking about their parents.

She wished she could come up with something more appropriate to say, but there was only one thing she could think of. 'That's how much you care about my imminent failure?'

Finn shook his head at her, and the hurt she saw in his eyes made her sight. 'Why'd you wanna go there now? I thought we were done with it after…'

'I know.' It came out harsher than he'd wish, so he quickly looked away from her, muttering an apology.

It was his quick mood change that made Elena notice the bags under her brother's green eyes. He looked tired, and somehow older. 'Why do you want to do this now?' she certainly expected a different answer.

'I just do.' He made a pause to look at her, and grinned a little. 'Do you wanna come with me, or not?'

Elena made a face, but nodded and grabbed her bag.

After quickly changing out of her swimsuit, Elena exited the Complex and found Finn waiting for her on the front steps.

They began walking down the beach with their shoes in hands. Finn didn't say anything throughout the entire walk on the beach, constantly avoiding his sister's glare.

Elena's mind began wandering to the first time she'd walked this way with Finn, along with Jamie. Jamie had been their father's fishing partner and he'd used to tell them stories about their parents when the twins had been much younger. He now worked as a bartender at _The Beholder's_, the tavern opened at the docks.

As the Victors' Village became visible in the distance, Elena felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered what had happened the last time they'd been there.

They had been 16. They'd used to come there almost everyday and stay on the steps of their parent's house. The gate had always been open. They still didn't know how it really happened. But they had been suddenly surrounded by soldiers and basically kicked out of the Victors' Village. Finn had had his arm broken by one of the soldiers.

The next day, their grandfather had told them that nobody was aloud to go inside the Victors' Village and that whoever did was going to be beaten up in the Square.

'Are you sure you wanna do this?' asked Elena as they got the tall metal gate.

'Relax. Jamie told me it's safe now. There will be no one wandering these streets beside us.' He pushed the gate open, the metallic sound it made sending shivers down Elena's spine.

Finn stepped forward, but Elena turned around one more time. There was no one on the beach, but Elena still felt watched. It was a feeling she'd had for a few weeks, but now it was stronger than before.

She felt Finn's glare on her and she quickly pushed through the gate. Her brother began walking towards the white house standing all alone on the seashore. All the other houses were on the main road, one of the reasons why the white cottage was standing out in the crowd of ginormous dark-painted houses.

Finn was walking on a much faster pace than usual. Elena shuddered, but began running in order to catch up with him. By the time she got to the house, Finn was already standing on the stairs, watching the waves break on the beach.

'You should practice running and walking instead of swimming.' she rolled her eyes and sat next to him on the wooden steps.

'The sand seems almost… dusty…lonely.' observed Elena. It was almost as if even the sand missed the former residents of the cottage. Its color was also different. It looked almost gray, missing the usual golden shade.

Finn nodded, but didn't say anything else, his eyes lost in the waves. Elena tried to imagine what he could possibly be thinking, but gave up, the strange feeling of being watched pushing in, stronger than ever.

She turned around to look at the house. When they had been younger, the house had always calmed her down when she'd been scared, the way she'd always imagined her parents would had. Now, the house scared her in a way nothing had ever done before.

She got up and began walking towards the sea. When she considered the distance between her and house decent enough, she whirled around in order to have a better view of it.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the window leading to one of the upper-leveled room. There was somebody up there. She couldn't see his face clearly; the only thing she could make out of him was his well-built body. He quickly shoved back the dusty curtain.

Finn was looking at her, his face a question itself. 'There's someone in the house.' She said it at the same time she began running toward the back door of the house, leading to the main street.

'Ya' sure?' Finn shouted after her, starring at the upper windows.

He waited until he heard the back door swing open and began running in the same direction his sister had gone. As soon as his feet stepped on the cool pavement of the street, something harsh collided into him and he flew to the ground, the other man falling right onto him.

He heard Elena shout somewhere close and as he tried to protect his head from hitting the hard pavement, he caught a glimpse of the man's hooded figure. There was something shimmering on the man's face, but Finn couldn't make out what it was, as the man's fist collided with his jaw.

Elena's voice was what woke him up from his almost unconsciousness. She slowly helped him stand, and he gowned. 'Are you okay?' He heard worry in his sister's voice.

'Son of a bitch.' His jaw hurt when he spoke and he let go of Elena's arm, trying to stand on his own feet.

'Did you see who it was?' asked Elena.

'When? How?' he sputtered out, trying to ignore the pain. 'When he smashed my jaw with his fist?'

It was only then that he noticed the bruise on his sister's arm or the odd way she walked. 'It's nothing. He just pushed me and I fell.' She tried to ignore his glare.

Finn cursed again towards the direction the stranger had run towards. He grabbed Elena's unharmed arm and dragged her towards the metal gate.

Neither of them spoke until they got back to the beach. Finn slowed down in order to make it easier for Elena's limping leg. He whirled around as soon as they got to the road leading to their house. 'Go home and ask Gramp to call Mae. She needs to take a look at your leg.'

'And where are you supposed to go?' asked Elena, crossing her arms around her chest.

'I need to tell Jamie about this.'

'How do you know he wasn't the one who sent him?' Her voice was harsh, making him think of a conservation they'd had a few months ago.

'We're not having this conversation right now.' He began walking towards the docks, shouting back at her. 'Go home!'

It took Elena longer than usual to get from the beach to their house because of her leg. She pushed open the door of the brick-walled house.

She opened her mouth in order to call her grandfather, but stopped when she heard his voice from the kitchen.

'…Why now?' her grandfather was saying.

It took Elena a few moments to realize that he was talking on the phone. Their grandfather never used the phone. 'After all these years in which they pretended they haven't even been born…'

There was a break in which her grandfather listened to what the person at the other end was saying. And then he did something she'd never heard him do before. He shouted. Their grandfather shouted at someone.

And what he said made Elena froze where she was. 'I don't care, Effie! I'm not going to let these kids have the same faith their parents did!'

Break.

Elena breathed heavily.

'They're not going to District 13. Coin is no going to hurt anyone else that I care about.'

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**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. **

**Please review, as I would like to know whether you like it or not****.**


	3. Who I Am

**A/N: Hey guys!**

**Thank you so much **_**Lightning at Noon **_**for reviewing and **_**princess26966 **_**for adding this story to you favorites. **

**Two new characters are introduced in this chapter.**

**Marie Avgeropoulos – Rose**

**Lucy Hale – Chlo. **

**Also, the next chapter will be from Chlo's point of view. Finn's chapter will be coming on later in the story.**

**Hope you'll all have an amazing New Year's Eve, and now, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer:**** The world of the Hunger Games and all the characters that you recognize from the book series belong to Suzanne Collins. I only own my original characters that will appear later on in the story.**

**Summary: ****Katniss had failed to kill President Coin, and now all the victors must pay the price. Locked up in the deepest levels of District 13 and kept young against their will, they are suddenly faced with people from their past that they have though were long dead. AU. OCs. **

**Through The Worst of Times**

**Chapter 2 – Who I Am**

"_I am Rosemary's granddaughter_

_The spitting image of my father"_

_Jessica Andrews - "Who I Am"_

The buzz in the hallway was like the roaring sound of a machine. Katniss Everdeen awoke, clueless for a brief, but lovely moment of where she was. As she took in her surroundings, she threw her head back on the harsh pillow. She didn't feel scared. Or hopeless. Or angry. She only felt numb.

It had been 18 years since they'd been imprisoned. She'd counted the days. 18 years since she'd last seen Peeta. 18 years since she'd failed to kill Coin.

And just 17 years since she'd given birth to her and Peeta's daughter.

They'd been imprisoned in the same cell. And he had been almost the same caring and loving Peeta she'd known. He'd been her rock. They hadn't known how much time they had left. It'd happened. She'd lost it when she'd found out. She'd never wanted children.

It had been that moment when she'd realized what "the odds are never in our favor" really meant.

They'd taken both Peeta and the their baby girl away from her. Sometimes, when she needed to fill her mind with something, Katniss would imagine how their daughter would have looked like. How she would have been like.

The shouting in the hallway was too loud for Katniss too focus on fantasies about babies who didn't get a chance to live. So she focused on the shootings instead.

'FINN!' a high-pitched voice cried out.

Katniss got up violently. Was that girl crying out for Finnick? But she hadn't sounded like Annie…

'Rose! Rose, stop!' said a male voice.

Katniss breathed heavily. It hadn't been Annie.

'Rose, he's dead. You can't do anything about it...Axe saw it coming…please, stop! ROSE!' the same male voice.

Silence. Then she heard two pairs of steps rushing from the far end of the hallway. And than that girl with the high-pitched voice screamed. It was the most terrifying and heartbreaking sound Katniss had ever heard.

'YOU KILLED HIM!'

_It's her fault. Only her fault._

_He's dead because of her. After everything he did for her…He was always there for her…He believed in her more than anyone else did…and betraying him is how she chooses to thank him…_

_I have only known him for a few months, just like I have know her, but he had defiantly touched my heart in a way no one had ever done before. He gave me hope. Hope that maybe I could finally learn to love someone. And now he's gone. And it's all her fault._

_I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to hear her reasons for doing this, for I already know them well enough. Her parents. She decided that their lives meant more than his. She decided that the lives of two complete strangers were more important than the life of the one person who has guided her through all of this. _

_And I hate her for this. He would have hated her for this. I may not be able to harm her myself, but I know Coin is. She will make Elena Odair pay for what she did. Maybe not with her own life, but certainly with the lives of her parents._

**4 months ago, District 12**

The smell of just baked cake filled the small kitchen. The girl was standing with her back to the door, bent over a lovely chocolate cake seated on the middle counter. Her dark brown hair was pinned at the back of her head.

'What are you doing?' asked a voice from the door.

The girl jumped and whirled around, only to face her grandmother, dressed in her blue night-gown. The woman was looking at her with an amused glare. 'I was just…I,umm…I just couldn't sleep, that's all' Her high-pitched voice rose even higher than usual, just like it always did when she was caught by surprise, and the girl cursed in her head.

'In the middle of the night?' the girl just frowned. 'You have really odd habits, Rose' said Rosemary Everdeen, still smiling at her seventeen years old granddaughter.

'So Uncle Gale has been telling me.' said Rose rolling her eyes.

'Just make sure you clean up.' The older woman yawned, and then reached for the door-knob, eager to return to her sleep.

'Just like I always do!' shouted the girl. Her voice returned to normal. She wasn't sure if she'd been heard.

Rose had gotten her name from her grandmother, who'd named her both after herself and her daughter Primrose, Rose's aunt. Both of the older woman's daughters had died in the war, and she was left to raise her granddaughter on her own. Gale Hawthorne helped from time to time, whenever he was around in 12 and not working in the Capitol or in 13. He was the only father figure Rose had ever known, but she'd learned to cope with it.

Rose returned to her cake, but was interrupted, not for the last time that night, by the phone's unpleasant ringtone. She made a face, but went to answer it. She didn't want to wake up her grandmother. It was probably some drunk mistaken the numbers.

'Hello?' she cursed her high-pitched voice for the second time that night.

'Rosemary? It's Kole Odair. Effie's just called and I'm afraid I've got terrible news…'

'This is Rose.' Silence. 'The granddaughter.' She rolled her eyes to the phone, imagining it was the man at the other end. 'I'm sure whatever _terrible news _you might have can wait till a more descent hour in the morning…'

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as the man abruptly hung up. 'Drunk.' Rose muttered and turned back to her cake. She didn't want to give up on what she was doing just yet. She had a feeling it was going to be one of the best things she'd ever baked.

She started decorating the cake with little flowers, but messed up one when the phone began to ring again. 'Seriously?' her voice rose again. That was the main reason why she couldn't sing, like she'd learned both her mother and grandfather used to.

She picked up and tried to make her voice sound low-pitched. It didn't come out well. 'What?'

'Don't go so hard on me, girl' said the female voice at the other end.

'Chlo.' Rose breather out her friend's name.

'It's me, in the flash' Chloe tried to pitch her voice in order to math with Rose's.

'Sorry to bother you from…' She went on pretending to be a lost in her thoughts. 'Yeah…probably baking…' Rose growled. It didn't really sound like it. 'But…7 is looking extremely boring tonight, and I figured I'd check up on some of my lame friends.'

'Don't cha have a random man's lap to curl up into?' snapped Rose, pulling at her messy ponytail.

'Ouch. Kitty's feeling offended.'

She said it in such a dramatic voice that it made Rose want to puke. She'd known Chlo ever since she could remember. Her grandmother had taken care of both of them, here in District 12. When Chlo turned 18, she'd gone back to District 7, _her home, _as she often called it. She often came to 12 to visit, but she never really talked about how things were going in 7.

Rose knew Chlo's…profession wasn't exactly one she'd want to rave about, so they tried to keep it away from ' Gran' Mary', as the older girl called Mrs. Everdeen. Even though Chlo was 4 years older than Rose, the age difference had never seemed to matter between them.

'Listen, hon'. Chlo's voice started to resemble Rose's again, making the younger girl even angrier than before. 'I don't know what got you so turned against me….or in fact, maybe against the whole world, but I'm not even going to bother to find out. I'm coming home next week…just don't tell Gran' Mary right away…I don't want her to make really big preparations.'

'But you've just been home like what, two weeks ago…Why? Did something happen?' Rose didn't mention the fact the Chlo had called District 12 _home_. She'd never called it like that before. Home had always meant District 7.

'Nothing happened…I just…have something that I need to take care of…work stuff.'

'Work stuff?' Rose raised an eyebrow.

'Oh, just go back to your baking.' Chlo hang up and Rose grimaced at the phone.

She resumed to her baking, and tried to concentrate back on the flowers, but without much luck, as a knock on the kitchen's window made her jump.

'What now?!' She shouted towards the closed window, and saw Gale waving at her from the front porch.

She stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. Gale was standing on the stairs, his eyes lost in the night sky. Rose slammed the door shut just to make her presence known and switched open an outdoor light. It was only then that she noticed one white strand of hair standing out from the other messy locks, or the few little wrinkles on his forehead.

'Hey, kiddo.' said Gale as he got up and wrapped his arms around her petite figure. Despite her annoyance, Rose still hugged him back. She hadn't seen for half a years now, and he didn't say he was coming home. 'Couldn't sleep?' He asked as he let her go and they both sat back on the stair.

'I didn't know you were coming home.' She couldn't ignore his dark circles or the unusual sadness in his eyes. He'd always made her laugh when she was younger.

'It was…kind of a last minute decision.' He fixed his gaze on one of the brighter stars.

'Why? Did something happen?' It was the second time she was asking that on that night, and she couldn't help but remember what that guy on the phone had said. _Terrible news_…She had a feeling that something bad was really about to happen.

'Listen, Rosey.' She hated that nickname, and he almost never used it. 'I know that your grandmother hasn't told you…much about your mother.' He made pause and glanced back at that same star. 'Or about your father. 'Rose though she saw something in his eyes, but she wasn't sure what it was. Gelousy? Regret?

'But I want you to know that she…that they both fought so you could have a better life. They wouldn't have wanted the system to touch in any way. Everything they did, they did for you.'

Rose nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this. 'They both really love..loved you…in their own way.'

Rose wanted so badly to ask him what he actually meant but when she opened her mouth, something else came out. Something she'd wanted to ask for a very long time, but never had the nerve to ask before.

'Uncle Gale…If my parents died in the war…why was I born a year after it was already over?' Gale looked stunned. He quickly turned his gaze back to the star.

Rose waited.

Hidden between the trees and bushes, there was somebody else also waiting. When he heard the girl's question, a wide smile formed on his lips. So she was suspicious…when she was going to find out that they had been lying to her…she'd turn her back on them in that instance. He was sure of that. For she was Katniss Everdeen's daughter. And he was almost sure that that girl with pretty blue eyes inherited that temper from her mother.

Gale never gave them an answer.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you all enjoyed the**** second chapter. **

**Please review, as I would like to know whether you like it or not.**


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